Love Song for Illusion (2024) K Drama Episode 12

Episode 12 of Love Song For Ilusion starts with Sajo Hyun forced back to his body, and he lay motionless on his bed without talking or moving. Meanwhile, Jin-seo rides on his way to look for Prince Ga-ron as Ak-hee directs him before he goes to meet with Chung Ta. Knowing Chung Ta would betray him, Ak-hee had made a backup plan to expose Chung Ta’s illegal deal to the Shamans.

Eunuch Neung tries to hold back Sajo Hyun when Geum-hwa arrives at the chambers, and she realises that Sajo Hyun is back in his body. However, the one she needs, according to her father’s wish, is Ak-hee so she can seduce him into sleeping with her and possibly get pregnant. Geum-hwa sends Eunuch Neung out of the room, insisting to spend the night tending to Sajo Hyun. 

When he falls asleep, Sajo Hyun is summoned back to the mind space and finds Ak-he still lying on the ground where he left him with the knife stuck to his back. In a surprising turn of events, Sajo Hyun begs Ak-hee to stay with him, stay awake, and not die. Geum-hwa is disappointed when Sajo Hyun wakes up beside her the following morning. Her father arrives soon after, and they decide to work fast to conceal Sajo Hyun’s plight from the ministers. However, the ministers deduced that something was amiss, and those still loyal to Sajo Yoong hurried to update him after the morning assembly. It turns out that Sajo Yoong is still sending Asatae into chaos, even behind a jail cell. 

Jin-seo meets up with Prince Ga-ron, but he is unwilling to help unless Yeon Wol is the one to ask for assistance. Meanwhile, Yeon Wol already knows that something happened to Ak-hee, and Jin-seo’s appearance at the clinic confirms her worries. Yeon Wol agrees to meet up with Prince Ga-ron, and soon after, Chung Ta is expelled from the Shaman Association. However, Yeon Wol drowns in the ocean and wakes up tied up in Prince Ga-ron’s ship. He offers her the antidote she needs for Sajo Hyun if she agrees to accompany her to Jinhoi and become his wife.

Sajo Yoong’s manipulations and tricks finally start to pay when Jinhoi breaks the borders and invades Asatae. The people are furious when they find frozen chicken lying all over the ground, and they blame their woes on Sajo Hyun, the haunted King. Protests started within the country and in prison, with people demanding the release of Sajo Yoong, which forced the ministers to storm His Majesty’s chambers demanding the release of Sajo Yoong so he could govern the country while the King was indisposed. Geum-hwa lies to the ministers that Sajo Hyun allows the release of Sajo Yoong, and he becomes the temporary King. The people, including the ministers, are ecstatic about the turn of events. 

Sajo Yoong’s first order of business is calming down the masses, and he uses Chung Ta and the medicine brewed using Yeon Wol’s medicine journal to trick them into thinking he is using a higher power to end the plague in Asatae. The people are eager to believe him and kowtow to Sajo Yoong, hailing him as their new King. Elsewhere, Yeon Wol agrees to Prince Ga-ron’s request, but only if he decides to let her deliver the antidote to Sajo Hyun. She leaves behind her father’s dagger as a promise that she will return to Jinhoi and become his wife as soon as she cures Sajo Hyun. 

On the way back, she runs into the female version of Chung Ta, and she gives her a secret message about the blade stuck on Ak-hee’s back. Apparently, even if she successfully gets the antidote to Sajo Hyun, he will not wake up unless the blade is pulled out.

Meanwhile, Geum-hwa, her father, and Sajo Yoong agree to eliminate Sajo Yoong, but each has a hidden agenda. Sajo Yoong wants Sajo Hyun gone so he can remove the threat to him taking the throne, while Geum-hwa intends to get rid of Sajo Hyun so she can convince people that the baby she is carrying is of royal descent. She and her father will raise the baby until they are four when they can become the Crown Prince, and Geum-hwa will become the Queen regent, giving her the right to rule over Asatae. 

Eunuch Neung sends the people watching over the King away and gives Yeon Wol some privacy with Sajo Hyun. She tells him what female Chung Ta had told her, and Sajo Hyun brings her into the mind space so she can help pull out the blade. However, it is not an easy task, and Geum-hwa’s intrusion does not help since she is forced to leave the mind space abruptly. Geum-hwa sends soldiers after her, but Jae-yi and Ha Rang manage to save her when she stumbles and falls down a cliff. 

Yeon Wol hurts her head, and she regains consciousness three days later. When he asks Jae-yi about Sajo Hyun, he does not respond but looks at Yeon Wol with eyes full of sadness and concern. We understand why when Yeon Wol meets up with Sajo Hyun at the ocean’s edge. Although Sajo Hyun is recovered from the tranquilising dart, he does not remember Yeon Wol. 

The Episode Review

The episode is frustrating, especially about how Sajo Yoong somehow manages to take over the throne. How have they let this man roam freely this long when he has zero claims to the throne? Also, given that the series started with Sajo Seung staging a coup and killing the real heirs to the throne, will Yeon Wol ever get back her rightful birthright to become King of Asatae? Well, there seems to be nothing interesting to look forward to in this series.

The audience can neither predict what will happen nor understand the premise of the whole series. Is it just about the love between Yeon Wol and Sajo Hyun? What’s Ak-hee’s significance in this series? Why did Sajo Hyun have to forget Yeon Wol? Also, Sajo Hyun seemed timid when Yeon Wol went to meet up at the end of the episode. Is he back to the half-wit self that lacks confidence and is haunted by the trauma of the past? Will Yeon Wol keep her promise and leave Asatae to become Prince Ga-ron’s wife?